Why is the first OLED TV with a curved screen?

The reason is not simple

If you ask LG or Samsung, you will get a standardized answer. The savvy marketing and public relations team has long prepared the answers to these questions. However, Samsung's OLED TVs launched in South Korea are both flat and curved. Therefore, Samsung and LG must have their own considerations.

First, you can look at the official statement from the manufacturer. LG said: "The curved screen looks wider and provides a more realistic visual experience, reducing image distortion. No matter where the user looks, LG spent five years researching the best curvature to give them the best experience at home. Bring an IMAX-like viewing experience.

On the other hand, Samsung said: "Our new 55-inch OLED TV uses a curved screen because we want to provide a very special viewing experience. "Timeless Arena" design can attract viewers and give it to the tablet screen. Experience. It also helps distinguish OLED TVs from other TVs in the store."

In fact, I don't think that the curved screen can give the TV a more realistic and immersive experience. Samsung and LG have some exaggeration. But the curved screen did not destroy any viewing experience. The off-axis viewing experience has not deteriorated, and in some cases, it is actually better than LCD TVs. I never felt that changing the viewing angle would have a qualitative change in image quality. So there are more deep reasons for this.

The reality is that both Samsung and LG know that these OLED TVs will not sell well this year. Because these TVs are extremely expensive and costly. So only wealthy families will choose them, they will be early adopters and some technology enthusiasts. The price of $9000 to $15,000 is not affordable for every family.

So, what is the propensity to consume in the early adopters? They want cool products, something that can be distinguished from the current product. It's not just a TV, it's a signal, just like the early iPhone. If the OLED TV is made pure, what is the difference between this and the previous TV? Thinner? This does not convince those early adopters. So you have to give it a shape that you never had, making them look cool and have a truly unique temperament. Let everyone talk about it, this will be the key to product success. So curved screens will definitely achieve these effects better than pure planes.

Early adopters are like brand ambassadors for high-tech companies. And these companies can get word-of-mouth advertising effects without paying any fees. If you can get the influential users of early adopters, then a product is not far from success.

Everything for the brand

Arc OLEDs are not designed to make money, but to please consumers and enhance the brand of LG and Samsung. Make people feel that they are great innovative companies. In the consumer electronics arena, competition is under great pressure and brands are more important than anything else. LG and Samsung have always been fiercely competitive, and the company that first introduced OLED TV to the market has been a controversial topic. Although the two giants in Korea have a competitive relationship. But their purpose is to maintain a leading position for companies such as Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba.

It can be likened to a space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when space technology was a symbol of technological superiority, it was considered an important national security resource. The competition to become the first country to enter space is fierce. When the Soviet Union succeeded in becoming the first country to enter space, the United States resolutely launched the moon landing plan to ensure its technological symbolic advantage. The cost of this plan was enormous and had a tremendous negative impact on NASA's follow-up research. However, due to the occupation of high technology, it has caused a great burden on the Soviet Union in a certain aspect, and it has also become a key factor for the United States to win the Cold War.

So, the same reason. Became the company that launched the first OLED TV, even if it doesn't make money. It can also produce unimaginable brand influence, and in order to further enhance its technical advantages, the introduction of a curved screen is no more natural.

Why can't we have curved and pure planes at the same time?

The ongoing discussion of curved OLEDs proves that Samsung and LG's strategy is successful, highlighting the symbol of their brand's technological innovation. But this does not explain an obvious question: why these companies do not launch curved and flat in the US market together. OLED TVs, they have already done so in Korea. In fact, the answer is simple: because they just can't.

OLED TV is still in its infancy. OLED is a cumbersome technology, and these TVs are basically still in the prototype stage. However, if not, expanding production is still a huge challenge. You can't build an OLED TV production line within a few days. It takes time and capital to build molds and machines, which will cost them a lot. The United States is a big market, unlike South Korea, there is no need to worry about capacity. These manufacturers cannot risk falling into the debt crisis and accelerate OLED production. When companies become too optimistic and build new factories, their financial risks will increase. Here is a best example of Sharp. So focusing on one product will be a good strategy.

In the face of the choice of only one product, and considering offering more unique and eye-catching products, LG and Samsung made a wise choice, only in the United States to launch a curved screen. The curved OLED is not for making money, it will be a Trojan horse, making the LG and Samsung brands unintentionally the pioneers of the next generation of displays. A flat OLED TV will appear, but it won't be this year.